Tag Archive for 'money'

Who are you?

Published on June 6, 2010 in Life and Thoughts. 1 Comment

Well… What do you do? Where are you going?

Sure… Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are you doing there? Who are you with?

These can certainly be big questions! But I think at some point they need to be considered; if not answered, even inconclusively.

There are many motivations driving the answers behind these questions. What do I want to do? What makes me happy? What do my parents want me to do? What will make me the most money? Bring me the most fame?

What does God want me to do?

From the Art of Manliness‘ post pondering What is a Vocation?

“The deepest vocational question is not “What ought I to do with my life?” It is the more elemental and demanding ‘Who am I? What is my nature?’” -Parker J. Palmer

The etymology of vocation versus career is most revealing. The word vocation comes from the Latin word “vocare” or “to call.” It denotes a voice summoning a person to a unique purpose. The word career derives from the Latin word for cart and the Middle French word for race track. It denotes quickly moving in a circle, never going anywhere.

Man was made to embrace his unique destiny, not soldier on as a hamster in a wheel.

As I ponder this myself, I think about what I feel like I am good at, what I enjoy, how I can serve, how I can bring joy to others.

I know that

  • I love cooking and want to be able to invite others into my home to enjoy meals.
  • I would like to have a wife and kids.
  • I would like to find joy and contentment in the small things and show others how to do the same.
  • I would like to help others who find themselves in difficult situations.
  • I would like to give everyone the opportunities and the means to follow their dreams and passions. For this one I look to my parents, without whom I wouldn’t have half the experiences I have had, nor would I be where I am today doing what I’m doing, doing what I love.
  • I want to teach or show others how to be.

This post hasn’t gone at all in the direction that I had originally planned… I was going to pose the question, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” And then try to answer it myself. But maybe I have no idea how to answer it or what my answer would be…

Maybe in 5 years I want to be doing all the things in my list…

I certainly don’t know where I will be. I don’t know who I will be there with. I don’t know what exactly I will be doing. But I know that I want to be doing those things. Of course, that’s all assuming that those are also things that God wants me to be doing… Boy, I sure hope so…

Ask yourself… where do you see yourself in 5 years?

::SAdamson

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What is rich?

Published on April 15, 2010 in Thoughts. 0 Comments

I got all this from an Ed Dobson sermon from Mars Hill

From a biblical perspective:

Having food and clothing; let’s be content.

So if you have clothes to wear and food to eat, that’s enough. Everything beyond food and beyond clothing qualifies us to be rich.

The issue is not how much money you have, but the issue is what you do with the money that God entrusts to you.

There are rich people who are kind and generous and giving and there are rich people who are greedy and obsessed with stuff. There are also poor people who are kind and generous and poor people who are greedy and obsessed with stuff.

No matter what you get, the eye is such that it always wants something more.

Life does not consist of what you possess.

Whenever we get satisfied with what we have, whenever we get greedy with what we have. Whether you are poor or rich, be rich in good deeds, be kind and generous to all.

Thanks Ed Dobson and Mars Hill.

I think Switchfoot also sums it up pretty well here in their song American Dream:

::SAdamson

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Yeah? Or something like that? Maybe?

Published on March 9, 2010 in Life and Thoughts. 0 Comments

Thanks Tom.  Thanks for all the good people in the world.  Every single person out there that makes the world go ’round… Thanks!

I think this letter sums up a lot of what has been on my mind.  I don’t have the same motivation bringing me to same conclusions (by conclusions, I mean questions), but I do come to a similar place in the end.  If you’ve been reading my blog, this has hopefully been coming through in a lot of my posts.

As the boss puts it, there are two major questions at play here:

  • One is in the meaning or importance or role of sports in society.
  • The second is the idea of simply being good at whatever it is that you do.  It doesn’t matter what it is that you do, just that you do it honestly, sincerely, excellently.

Let me take you back to an old post and this video…

And another video with Adam Kreek; it is actually Mr. Whitfield who pointed me over to this clip…

There are so many things going on here.  I could go on for days and write so many posts about all the great things these guys say.  But I’ll let you mull them over and maybe come back later…

But here is an idea I borrowed from John Verheul:

It’s the idea that even 1% can help.  For all those that have helped me, I want to pass the buck.  One day soon, I also want to pass on more than that; I want to pass on my time!

There are so many people out there who need help.  There are so many people who don’t have the same opportunities.  There are so many people out there who are struggling in pain.

Many people in developing countries.  Many people that live in my neighbourhood.  Young kids.  Adults.  Elders.  Everyone needs a helping hand sometimes!

I want to do my part.  My first 1% will be Kidsport.  After all, that is the idea that has stimulated so many  of my blog posts in the last little while!  That is why I believe in the Olympics and elite sport.  So at least 1% of all revenues generated from Shaun Adamson Training and the Shaun Adamson Supporters Club will be donated!

Thanks to everyone who has helped me reach for my dreams thus far and to all those will help me to make my dreams in the future.  I just hope I can pass on as much as I have received!

::SAdamson

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An Olympic Future

Published on February 28, 2010 in Thoughts. 0 Comments

I don’t want to detract anything from all the Olympic hype, from the Canadian men’s hockey team winning the gold medal, Kershaw finishing 5th in the men’s 50km mass-start, from another Canadian men’s gold medal in curling, but I just have a few more things to say…

I just finished an article in the Edmonton Journal with some thoughts from silver medalist Helen Upperton.  She drew inspiration from Kristi Richards, who finished 20th in women’s moguls after picking herself up, drawing energy from the once-in-a-lifetime crowd, to hit a big second air.

We have to change the way Canadians view amateur sports and fund amateur sports and keep this momentum going.  Funding amateur sport needs to be as much philosophical as performance-based.

Upperton is not simply calling for governments and corporations to plow money into the upper echelons of sport.  She believes she’s “a truly ordinary person” who grew up playing many sports and none exceptionally well.  She loved it and had a great work ethic.  And when the Calgary Olympics rolled through town, she got her Petro Canada torch and saw the luge and was hooked on the whole thing.  ”You’ve got to start pumping money into grassroots and recreational sports programs and make sure that physical educations stays in the school system.”

It’s all about the amateur sport.  I didn’t used to think that.  I remember being excited when NHL players were going to be allowed into the Olympics in ’98.  But now I think they’re all just overpaid.

It must have been ’98 as well because I remember loving aerials back in grade 6.  I actually set up a ruler on the edge my desk and we flipped erasers and scored them based on each eraser’s air and landing.

I think I may have seemed a little pessimistic toward the Olympics in some of my last posts.  But as I’m watching the closing the ceremonies right now, it’s pretty cool.  It’s amazing how sport can bring so many people together, even people who don’t necessarily like sport.

This is the part we need.  We need to motivate people to be active, to get involved, to go out and do something!  Our society will be so much better off.  If we are active, our kids are active, our communities are active, we will be happier, we will put less strain on the health care system, and we will just be better people.

Get together.  Go out and do something.  Inspire people.

::SAdamson

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More

Published on February 20, 2010 in Thoughts. 0 Comments

Simple title, lots and lots of thoughts!

I think my previous Olympics/money/sport posts have been taken in a different light than I was intending.  But I got lots of good comments and feedback, so thanks.  After re-reading my posts I think I just said what I was trying to say poorly (what else is new?!?).

But after getting a chance to go downtown in Vancouver yesterday, I got a renewed perspective.  Not a new perspective, but a reminder of what I thought or was trying to say.

Sport is a great thing!  People are great.  Sport bringing people together must then be really, really great!  No?

I don’t know if that’s what the Olympics has really come to.  But I certainly appreciate the sport.  I appreciate that it brings people and fans together to cheer on their favourites!  I like when Olympians encourage kids to try new things, to push their limits, to motivate them!  That is one great aspect of the Olympics!

And sports and athletes are unreal!  That’s all I have to say!

I LIKE THE OLYMPICS!!!

But are they the best for society?  That’s what I don’t know.

::SAdamson

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Sport and money

Published on February 15, 2010 in Thoughts. 3 Comments

So here is my dilemma:

I have spent the last few years seriously trying to further my career as a cyclist.  Or make my career as a cyclist.  What does/has that involved?

Well, training and racing of course, but also attempting to find sponsors.  I am trying to find people to give me product (either really cheap or free) and people to give me money (for travel, etc.) so that I can focus on racing and training.  This is a daunting task.

And as I have been successful (Thanks Juventus, United Cycle, Transcend Coffee, Mom and Dad), I just haven’t quite had that breakthrough yet.  For me that begins to beg the question, what the heck am I doing?!?!?

Let’s assume that I can guarantee anybody a 100% return on investment, is that really the best use of their money?  Would they and me and the world be better off if they gave me that money and I helped distribute it to the people who really need it?  To kids who don’t eat breakfast?  To kids who don’t get to play any sports?  To people who don’t have warm clothes to wear in the winter?  To people who struggle with addiction, etc.?

I don’t know…

I mean, I need money too.  Unfortunately we all do.  We all have different definitions of what we need, but we all need money to some extent.  We all need to eat, have a place to live, clothes to wear.

So we work.  We make money.  We spend it.  That’s economy.  But are we doing it right?

Now that I’ve pretty much written off any potential sponsors that read this, I am not sure what I think.  So don’t get me wrong.  I love cycling and training and will always want to be competitive, pushing myself and others to be the best.

It seems more like I’m questions jobs and money and the economy and our society than sport, but this all came out of my thoughts and questions surrounding the Olympics.

What do you think?

::SAdamson

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The Olympics

Published on February 13, 2010 in Thoughts. 0 Comments

Well, they’re here.

I don’t know… what do you think?

Here are Poul’s thoughts.

Here are some thoughts from Dallas.

Here are some of my old thoughts.

Well, I don’t know if I can say what I think.  I don’t think I know what I think anymore.

I have always LOVED the Olympics!  I remember just loving sports.  I was looking through some old photo albums with a friend and apparently there were lots of me doing sports, being around sports, and she said, “I guess you liked sports, eh?”

“Yup!” I like sports!

But what about all the money that goes into it?  What about sponsorship from companies like Coke and McDonalds?  Do you just say that they have money and without them the Olympics wouldn’t be what they are?

I mean, we all know that these athletes don’t actually eat the food they’re endorsing; but do we?  Do we want people to think this food is actually good for them?  As Food, Inc. says, we need to make carrots more affordable than chips.  But how do we really do that?

Ok, I’ve gotten a little off topic, but those are some thoughts.  This will be the first of (hopefully) many posts over the next few weeks about the Olympics and sports and athletes.

I still also want to talk about the 168 hours I recorded… I guess I’ve had a bit of busy time…

::SAdamson

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Care

Published on January 30, 2010 in Thoughts. 0 Comments

Can you do me favour?

If you do one thing in your lifetime, can you care about something.

I just finished watching Food, inc. and it was spectacular!  I am easily the kind of guy who could get super motivated to go out and change the whole world.  But then I would realize that I can’t and I would just become a grumpy old cynic.

So when I ask you to care about something.  I mean, not so passionately that everything else falls apart, but to have a passion for something you love.  To follow that dream.  To make the world a better place.  To make somebody smile.  To give somebody a hug.  To help somebody.  That’s all.  The little things that don’t seem to a difference.  Care about those!

And now I hope I’m not infringing on any copyright laws here, but I heard a couple quotes in the documentary that really hit it home!  So here they are:

I have no desire to scale up or get bigger.  My desire is to produce the best food in the world and heel.  And if in doing so, more people come to our corner and want stuff then heaven help me figure out how to meet the need without compromising the integrity.

I have absolutely no desire to be [too big].  As soon as you grasp for that growth, you’re going to view your customer differently, you’re going to view your product differently, you’re going to view your business differently; you’re going to view everything that is the most important, you’re going to view that differently.

The average consumer doesn’t feel very responsible, that you yourself cannot make real changes.  But each time you buy something, you are voting for organic or not, for local or not.  Individual consumers caused change in the biggest company in the world.  You can make changes too.

It costs more, in this country, to eat well than it does to eat badly.  Some people simply don’t have the money.  That’s why we need changes in the policy level; so we can have carrots be cheaper than the chips.

Imagine what it would be if as a national policy we said we would be successful if we have fewer people going to the hospital next year than we did this year.  The idea would be to have such nutritionally dense, unadulterated food that the people who ate it felt better, had more energy, and weren’t sick as much.  That’s a noble goal.

You can vote to change the system.  Three times a day.

Buy from companies that treat workers, animals, and the environment with respect.

When you go to the supermarket, choose foods that are in season, know what’s in your food, read labels.

Buy foods that are grown locally.  Shop at farmers markets.  Plant a garden (even a small one).

I hope something there hits home, because it really does motivate me.  Not only to be a better, smarter consumer of food, but just a better human being, a more useful individual in society, to make changes for the better!

::SAdamson

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Here’s the story

Published on January 7, 2010 in Thoughts. 1 Comment

I always come up with these brilliant ideas of why I think somebody should sponsor me.  Or why somebody should donate money.  Or why I should get free product.

But then I have a discussion about the politics of health care in Alberta and around the world.  I hear the politics of social work.  I hear the politics of health pandemics.  I hear of hunger and famine all over the world.

And I’m torn.

Should I race my bike?  Or should I go out and change people’s lives and the world?  Can I do both?

Should I convince you that you should give me money?  What are the benefits?  Or should I convince you to help me feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help those in need?  Now that has benefits!

Again I’m torn.

I don’t think everybody needs to go to third world countries and try to change everything.  Nobody can do that on their own.  Everybody simply has to do their part.  But what exactly is our part?

Do we race our bikes?  Do we support local companies?  Do we buy discount products from Walmart?  Do we buy cheap clothes made in poor labour conditions?  Do we buy expensive clothes made locally, in good working conditions?  Do we make our own clothes?  Do we make sure not to waste any food?  Do we grow our own food?

Oh boy.  My head is going to explode!  All this simply from thinking about how to get sponsorship for cycling, the sport I love and a huge passion of mine!

::SAdamson

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Show me the money!

Published on December 29, 2009 in Life and Thoughts. 0 Comments

I think I’m in love with lining up some classic movie quotes with my current thoughts…

I was bored, looking through my phone, and I found a recording I made of my dad when we were driving a few weeks ago.  We had had some salary, job, volunteering, money conversations.  In light of those, this is what he said:

Would I do my job for less money?

  • Yeah.

Would I do my job for more money?

  • Well, yeah.

Do I need more money for my job?

  • No.

Would I go on strike to make more money?

  • No.

Do I expect more money for my job?

  • No.

People should do their jobs because they love the job or love the work.

Thanks Dad.

In light of my many thoughts on money and jobs and pay and what is fair, I think this is fitting.  There are many more thoughts in my head, that will hopefully reach you soon.  Do you have anything to add?

::SAdamson

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